Genetic Testing in the Jewish
Community

Are We Doing Enough?

Conference 2012 Recap

by Jane E. Herman

Presenter: Dr. Steven Narod, MD

People of Eastern European Jewish descent
have a higher prevalence of BRCA1 and
BRCA2 mutations than do individuals in the
general population. Renowned Canadian
researcher Dr. Steven Narod discussed results
from a program he initiated in 2008, which
offers free BRCA testing to any unaffected
adult Jewish woman in Ontario, regardless of
her family history of cancer. Dr. Narod's laboratory
can test for the three most common BRCA
mutations among Ashkenazi Jews (known as
founder mutations). As a result:

6,108 women were initially tested, 67 of
whom were positive for a BRCA mutation

81 mothers and sisters were subsequently
tested, 25 of whom were positive

A total of 92 women were identified as carriers
of a BRCA mutation

Dr. Narod estimates that 47 cases of breast or
ovarian cancer were prevented, and 24 lives
were saved from this testing. Dr. Narod concluded
that his model is cost-effective (approximately
$50 per test) and lifesaving, and he proposed
expanding the program beyond Ontario.
In the United States, testing for founder mutations
is more expensive (about $450) because
Myriad Genetics' gene patent impacts the
cost of widespread testing. Population-based
testing is most efficient in groups with a high
incidence of BRCA founder mutations, making
this model more costly and less beneficial for
the general (non-Jewish) population, in which
BRCA mutations are more rare.

Jane E. Herman is the executive writer and editor
at the Union for Reform Judaism. She is an
Outreach Coordinator in New York City and
writes often about her own BRCA journey at
janethewriterwrites.blogspot.com.

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